Birding Skagit

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Last Updated: May 23, 2017

The list below describes some of the excellent birding areas in Skagit County. You may want to check Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s eBird site (ebird.org/content/ebird/), indicating the location and species of birds you would like to see. The Cascade Loop of the Great Washington Birding Trail (wa.audubon.org/great-washington-state-birding-trail) also features sites in Skagit County. Click on each birding location below, and a map will open in the same window. If you hold down the "Ctrl" key and click the location, a map will open a new tab. Also included is a GPS location for input into a navigation system or pasting into Google Maps.

Anacortes Area: Washington Park (48.498873 -122.692653) - best fall through spring - outstanding seabird watching area including Pacific Loons, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets, gulls, cormorants, and many sea ducks including Harlequin Ducks. Bald Eagles and shorebirds such as Black Oystercatcher are likely. Rhinoceros Auklets are present from July to October and Ancient Murrelets are possible November to December. Many forest birds in the wooded areas. Guemes Channel (48.503900 -122.670290) - from the San Juan ferry terminal to Cap Sante (48.513407 -122.599219) includes Red-necked Grebes, Long-tailed Ducks, alcids, and cormorants. Anacortes Forest Lands (48.466394 -122.619748) - varied forest and wetland habitats with many possibilities including migrating hawks seen from Mt. Erie (48.453802 -122.626026).

March Point: Fidalgo Bay (48.477294 -122.573157) - fall to spring – Brant (particularly gray-bellied race), scoters, Long-tailed and other sea ducks, cormorants, and herons. Padilla Bay (48.494433 -122.554143) - many wintering water birds, and Caspian Terns in summer. Snow Buntings have been found in this area in winter.

Samish Flats: Between Padilla Bay and Alice Bay (the West 90 particularly: 48.547668 -122.4874989) - fall to spring - many raptors, waterfowl, and passerines. Good area for Snowy Owls (some years), Short-eared Owls, Peregrines, Gyrfalcons. Prairie Falcons, Merlins, and Kestrels are also present making this a target area for finding 5 falcon species. Red-tailed -Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Harriers, and Bald Eagles are common. Herons, Canvasbacks, large flocks of Dunlins, Black-bellied Plovers, dabbling ducks including large numbers of Eurasian Wigeons among flocks of American Wigeons are some of the possibilities.

Skagit Flats: Fir Island (48.349580 -122.392004) - (the area between the north and south forks of the Skagit River) fall to spring - good place to see Snow Geese, Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, as well as raptors, Western Meadowlarks. Jensen Access (48.338421 -122.433554) - geese, shorebirds, sea ducks, eagles, Snowy Owls. North Fork Access (48.355569 -122.460000) - Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers. Skagit Bay- Skagit Wildlife Area - Wylie Slough Area (48.325001 -122.378109) - woodpeckers and other terrestrial species, Great-horned Owls, Northern Shrike. In summer there are many nesting species including Marsh Wrens, Virginia Rails, Soras, Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal, Wood Ducks, Tree Swallows, and Northern Flickers.

Butler Flats: Green Road Pond (48.524514 -122.334809) - Hawks and winter waterfowl. Spring and summer: Marsh Wrens, Yellowthroat, and other wetland species. Lazuli Buntings have nested on nearby hillsides along with many other more common species.

State Route 20, Rockport to Marblemount: Skagit River Bald Eagle Area (roadside viewing area at 48.491828 -121.549955) - This valley corridor in winter hosts Bald Eagles feeding on spawned-out salmon, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common Merganser, American Dipper. In summer, Osprey, Spotted Sandpipers, Black and Vaux's Swifts, Northern Orioles and Lazuli Buntings are possible.

State Route 20, Upper Skagit Valley Area: Heading upriver east from Marblemount, the diverse forest and river habitats host a variety of species including Spotted (very difficult to find) and Barred Owls, Ruffed and Sooty Grouse, Pileated and other woodpeckers, Ospreys, Varied and Swainson's Thrushes, Steller's Jays, Pacific Wrens, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Red-breasted nuthatches, Purple Finches, and Western Tanagers. Warblers, including Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow, Black-throated Gray, Townsend’s Yellow-rumped, American Redstart, MacGillivray's, Common Yellowthroat, and Wilson's, are possible, as well as Willow and Pacific-slope Flycatchers.

State Route 20, County Line Ponds: (milepost 116.5) (48.640479 -121.313526) Late spring to fall - Riparian area with many species possible in season including Hammond's Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Marsh Wren, Red-eyed Vireo, and American Redstart.

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Skagit Audubon

Skagit Audubon Society holds monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of each month except for the months of July and August. We meet at 7:00 pm at Padilla Bay Interpretive Center(Google map), 10441 Bayview-Edison Rd. Mount Vernon. Meetings are open to all.

The board of directors meets at the same location at 7:00 pm on the first Tuesday of each month, except for the months of July and August.